Time Warp
by MaryandMerlin
Summary: When Harry dreams of a life of excitement beyond his cupboard, he really didn't expect his wish to get answered. Time Bandits!AU


**Author's Note: I have never seen Time Bandits! But this is a fic based heavily on the plot that I read in a Wikipedia synopsis! Any inaccuracies are intended as I'm not following the plot exactly.**

 **QLFC -** Round 6

Time Bandits

(word) Token, (object) Thistle, (poem) A Walking Song - J. R. R. Tolkein

 **Hogwarts Assignments -** Performing Arts

Task 3 - Write a story with a popular trope (it was all a dream)

 **Hogwarts Birthday Event -** Pinata

Medium - Write about a family

 **FRIENDS Challenge -** TOW Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister

Write about the Weasleys

 **Disney Challenge -** Sven

Write about twins

 **Percy Jackson Challenge -** Travis and Connor Stoll

Write about Fred and George Weasley

 **Disclaimer:** **I don't own anything you recognise!**

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Time Warp

Harry ached as he crawled into his cramped little cupboard. The bruises Dudley had given him pulsed and ached across his legs and back, and his ears still rang with the shrieks and shouts of his Aunt Petunia. Dudley had battered him black and blue all around the school yard but poor little Diddykins had gotten over excited and ended up falling over. Of course, that was Harry's fault—he should have been easier to beat up—and so Aunt Petunia had spent over an hour berating him and had sent him to bed without anything to eat.

In a way, Harry didn't mind. He could learn to ignore the aching of his limbs, the gnawing emptiness of his stomach, but it was the loneliness and isolation that was starting to get to him. An itch, an ache in his heart that no one could scratch; that no one was willing to scratch.

So Harry climbed into his makeshift bed, huddled under the threadbare blanket (a token present from a long gone birthday) and looked up at the underside of the stairs. There were twenty-three slats, forty-five nails (one was missing), and three spiders. He waited for the familiar thud and rain of sawdust as the Dursleys went to bed. The quick-paced lumber of Dudley, the soft-footed tread of Aunt Petunia and the slow, heavy climb of Uncle Vernon soon retreated upstairs and, finally, Harry was alone.

He lay for a few moments, staring aimlessly at the ceiling, before he reached for the little switch and plunged his world into darkness. He felt for his glasses, placed them beside his pillow and closed his eyes, dreaming of a world where he had someone who cared for him.

X

Harry wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when his eyes opened. For a second, he thought it was already morning and it had been the familiar thud of Dudley that had woken him, but the strange light filtering through the slats of his grate was far too alarming a shade of blue to be natural daylight. Harry groped behind him for his glasses and slipped the bent frames over his ears. Cautiously, he sat up and peered through the slats, but he could see nothing but this eery light.

Pressing an ear against the painted wood, Harry held his breath. He could hear movement on the other side of the door. Frowning, he strained his ears and the noises separated out into different patterns and rhythms, voices.

"... no, I don't know how we ended up here!"

"Oh, of course you don't. You're just the one with the map!"

"Hey! I have the map too!"

"That's because I can read, dumb-dumb."

"You mean we can read, but yeah! Dumb-dumb!"

The voices were obviously squabbling with each other, but Harry couldn't tell how many people were out there. They all sounded so alike, he couldn't pick them apart.

"It doesn't matter how we got here, what is important is that we get back out again! Look at the map again."

A moment of silence, followed by shifting and rustling as the unknown amount of people studied their map. "There," came a voice, "it has to be that door, that has to be another portal. Quick open i-ahhh!"

Harry gasped as he found himself falling suddenly forward, the door they had chosen to open being the door to his cupboard. With a sore nose, Harry picked himself up off the floor and looked up towards the voices. He was surprised to find not fully grown adults invading his home, as he had expected, but rather six, child-sized boys. They all bore the same pale complexion and vibrant carrot hair; the two who clutched a browned piece of paper were identical.

"What are you?" Harry breathed in fear and wonder.

"What? What! How dare you! We are the most important people in the vortex! I will have you know the high Marauder himself chose us for this important mission!"

"Percy!" another hissed, looking cautiously at Harry. If Harry had to guess, he would say this was the leader of the group, though he didn't look to be the oldest. "You aren't supposed to go around telling any old creature what we're doing!"

It took Harry a moment to realise that the strange little man had been talking about him, but before he could protest, a voice shook the house to its very foundation. "Foolish Dwarves! I give you simple instructions and you cannot even locate the correct boy! I should strip you of everything and crush you into dust!"

The light from one end of the hall intensified so sharply that Harry was momentarily blinded. When he could see again, the six ginger dwarves were cowering on the ground around him, all bowed towards the light. Harry looked up and was amazed to see a giant, angry looking head floating in front of the door.

"P-please, no!" begged the dwarves.

"We will do better!" wailed the twins as they huddled over the map.

"Fail me again," boomed the voice, "and there will be nothing left of you to fear me with!" Harry struggled to stay sitting upright under the force of his voice and power.

"Now GO!"

X

If it hadn't been for the swirl of colours rushing past and the roar of wind in his ears, Harry wouldn't have known he was falling. He felt weightless, as if he were lying on a cloud, but because he knew he was falling Harry couldn't help the terrified scream torn from his lips.

Streaks of orange dropped past him and Harry knew he wasn't the only person trapped in this place, but it didn't bring him any comfort knowing he had become sucked into whatever trouble these dwarves were in.

Almost faster than he could think, the indecipherable swirl of colours around him opened up into something more familiar and Harry hit the cold, wet ground with a thud. He lay still for a moment, looking up at the maudlin, grey sky and knew he was still in England. The ground beneath him was actually sand and as he pushed himself up, he found he was facing a grey, stormy sea. The waves frothed and battered the shore. Behind him, a sheer cliff face rose up, covered in rough bracken and thistles.

Groans and moans alerted Harry to the presence of the six little dwarves who lay sprawled around him. Covered in sand, they began to pick each other up, dusting each other off and generally making a fuss. Eventually, they seemed to realise that they weren't the only ones who had fallen into this dreary place.

Harry watched, bemused, as they grouped together whispering fiercely and throwing him suspicious looks as they talked. After a few minutes of whispering and pushing, the youngest looking dwarf was shoved out of the protective circle towards him. The bashful little dwarf went bright red as he opened his mouth to speak.

"We have decided that, obviously, the Grand High Marauder has chosen you to accompany us on our mission. You will come with us quietly and do as we bid."

Harry regarded the group and realised that they were far more afraid of him than he was of them. Like spiders, he supposed. When he nodded, the dwarves visibly relaxed and the twins spun on their heel and began to bounce away.

"This way!" one called gleefully brandishing the tattered bit of paper.

"We know where he is, we're sure of it now!"

Their brothers, or friends, or whatever they were, seemed to share a long suffering look before they turned and followed the excitable pair. Harry, after a moment's hesitation, followed suit.

They trudged along the beach for what seemed like forever. He listened silently to the babble and arguments of the little dwarves until they settled into a walking rhythm and from the front began a song. It was sweet and full of hope, a desire to see the world but never forgetting that home lay not far away. It made Harry's heart ache for a home where _he_ felt so loved and accepted.

The smallest dwarf was in full flight of song when he suddenly stopped short, his voice becoming a squeak. He was seemingly frozen in place, staring up to the left, back towards the cliffs.

"This is it," whispered the leader. "This is where it all begins."

Harry followed their line of sight and found himself looking down the dark mouth of a cave. No matter how hard he squinted, he couldn't see much further than the mouth. A shiver stumbled down his spine. "Where what all begins?"

None of his companions seemed willing to speak. "The end," one finally answered gruffly. His red hair was long, tied up in a ponytail. He had not spoken up until this point.

The ragtag group moved towards the cave's entrance, and even as the wind howled around them, they shrank away from the icy atmosphere emanating from inside. "If we get this over with, will you take me home?" Harry asked eventually. The dwarves exchanged glances before nodding. "Well then," he squared his shoulders, "we'd better get on with it."

Harry pushed forward, breaching the icy wall of the cave and walking, as bravely as he could, into the darkness. He walked and walked until a pale green light became visible ahead. He moved closer and the light brightened until the cave opened up before him into a cavern. Harry was surprised to discover they were no longer alone. Three figures were at the opposite end of the cavern. Two lay pale and unmoving on the floor whilst the third, a boy with dark hair, was hunched over something Harry couldn't see.

The boy responded to their presence instantly, and although Harry knew the dwarves were behind him, the boy seemed to have only eyes for Harry.

He crossed the cavern in the blink of an eye and Harry stumbled back a step as the boy peered at his face. His skin was so pale he looked sickly, and he dressed strangely, as if he were from 50 years ago, in long shorts and a buttoned shirt. Harry couldn't help but glance at the prostrate figures on the floor of the cavern. He couldn't be sure, but he thought they were covered in blood.

"Who are you?" the boy asked finally, his sharp eyes settling on Harry's own. They were so cold and emotionless that Harry wasn't sure the boy was even alive.

"H-Harry Potter," he stuttered.

"Well, H-Harry Potter," the boy mocked, "you have arrived at a most opportune time. They," he jerked his head over his shoulder towards the bodies, "were too weak and I need just one more." Before Harry could react, the pale boy had grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip and transported him across the cavern as quickly as he had. He could see now that it was a small stalactite the boy had been hunched over, with a naturally formed bowl at the top. It was filled with the same dark liquid that stained the other two figures.

"Take solace in the fact that today you make history, Harry Potter," the boy told him. Harry turned away from the bowl to look at him as a stone descended into his vision.

X

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._

Harry stirred.

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._

A bitter, gritty taste in his mouth.

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._

"Wake up cousin!" _Thud. Thud. Thud._ "Wake up! We're going to the zoo!"

Harry suddenly realised who that was and where he was. He shot up in his makeshift bed, narrowly avoiding banging his head on the underside of the stairs. Dudley rushed down the remaining stairs and banged on the door to the cupboard to make sure Harry was really awake.

Harry looked around, surprised to find that he was in his bed and not in a dark cavern on a strange beach.

It had been a dream. A stupid, scary dream. His heart was still hammering, and he was covered in sweat, but it was okay. It had only been a dream. The boy hadn't been real, nor the dwarves, nor the Marauder or that stupid map.

Just a figment of his imagination.

Harry reached up to push his sweat drenched hair away from his forehead and frowned. His hand came away slick and slippery, and as he brought it down in front of his eyes, wearing the glasses he had taken off for bed, he realised it was covered in blood.

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 **Much Love, MaryandMerlin x**


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